ACTA
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Press Release Strasbourg - European Parliament President Martin Schulz made the following statement after the vote by the European Parliament to reject the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA):
European Parliament / The President : ACTA wrong solution to protect intellectual property
ACTA rejected by European Union vote
European Parliament has rejected the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, by a heady 478 to 39, with 146 votes abstaining. While this doesn't mean ACTA can't become a reality elsewhere, it's a smack in the face for companies looking to crack down on internet-based copyright infringement. If ACTA had passed, its definition was so broad that it would mean the use of copyright images on websites could become an illegal act.
The day before the EU's International Trade committee (INTA) recommended that the European Parliament should reject ACTA, the EU commissioner with responsibility for the treaty, Karel De Gucht, had given a speech to its members, trying to win them over. Although it was short, it turns out to be highly revealing about the European Commission's future ACTA strategy . Here's what he said: If you decide for a negative vote before the European Court rules, let me tell you that the Commission will nonetheless continue to pursue the current procedure before the Court, as we are entitled to do. A negative vote will not stop the proceedings before the Court of Justice. That is, whatever happens next week, the European Commission will wait for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to rule on whether ACTA is compatible with EU law.
EU Commissioner Reveals He Will Simply Ignore Any Rejection Of ACTA By European Parliament Next Week
Three heavyweight committees in the European Parliament gave their voting recommendations on ACTA today. All three gave the same recommendation: reject ACTA . This means that today, the European Parliament issued three very hard strikes against ACTA. What happened today was the first steps in a long chain that ends with the final vote in all of the European Parliament, which is the vote where ACTA ultimately lives or dies.
Three Strikes Against ACTA In European Parliament Today
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Brussels, March 27th 2012 - The EU Parliament refused to freeze the ACTA debate, and will not refer the agreement to the EU Court of Justice. In a 21 to 5 vote plus 2 abstentions, the Parliament decided to stick to its calendar and will vote on ACTA in June, as originally planned. The Commission's technocratic manoeuvres have not stopped the Parliament, and the door remains open to a swift rejection of ACTA. After an eventful process where a minority of pro-ACTA MEPs used procedural arguments to delay a decision, the EU Parliament's "International Trade" committee refused to refer ACTA to the EU Court of Justice.
EU Parliament Will Vote on ACTA Without Delay!
EU Parliament Will Vote on ACTA Without Delay!
Brussels, March 27th 2012 - The EU Parliament refused to freeze the ACTA debate, and will not refer the agreement to the EU Court of Justice. In a 21 to 5 vote plus 2 abstentions, the Parliament decided to stick to its calendar and will vote on ACTA in June, as originally planned. The Commission's technocratic manoeuvres have not stopped the Parliament, and the door remains open to a swift rejection of ACTA. After an eventful process where a minority of pro-ACTA MEPs used procedural arguments to delay a decision, the EU Parliament's "International Trade" committee refused to refer ACTA to the EU Court of Justice. Such a referral would have delayed for 18 months the final vote on ACTA.
How the European internet rose up against Acta
Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland sent a letter to his fellow leaders in the EU Friday urging them to reject A cta , reversing Poland's course with the controversial intellectual-property treaty, and possibly taking Europe with them. "I was wrong," Tusk explained to a news conference, confessing his government had acted recklessly with a legal regime that wasn't right for the 21st century. The reversal came after Tusk's own strong statements in support of Acta and condemnation of Anonymous attacks on Polish government sites, and weeks of street protest in Poland and across Europe. The seeming overnight success came after both years of work by European NGOs, and the spark of the Sopa/Pipa protests in America (which included Wired.com ).
How the European Internet Rose Up Against ACTA | Threat Level
Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland sent a letter to his fellow leaders in the EU Friday urging them to reject ACTA , reversing Poland’s course with the controversial intellectual-property treaty, and possibly taking Europe with them. “I was wrong,” Tusk explained to a news conference, confessing his government had acted recklessly with a legal regime that wasn’t right for the 21st century. The reversal came after Tusk’s own strong statements in support of ACTA and condemnation of Anonymous attacks on Polish government sites, and weeks of street protest in Poland and across Europe. The seeming overnight success came after both years of work by European NGOs, and the spark of the SOPA/PIPA protests in America (which included Wired.com ).ACTA Update VI
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VIENNA, 14 February 2012 – In a letter to the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, today, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović urged the Parliament to safeguard free expression when discussing the draft Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The letter to Schulz follows her January statement on ACTA as well as the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act in the United States, in which Mijatović warned about the dangers of placing the interests of rights holders above the fundamental right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy. “In my role as the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, I am mandated to observe media freedom developments in the OSCE participating States and am concerned that the present agreement on ACTA might have a detrimental affect on freedom of expression and a free flow of information in the digital age,” Mijatović wrote in her letter.
media representative urges European Parliament to reassess ACTA to safeguard freedom of expression - Representative on Freedom of the Media
Press/Blog | Access
4:13pm | 10 February 2012 | by Mike Rispoli Sign the Access petition calling on the European Parliament to vote NO on ACTA! One-page fact sheets to hand out on Saturday : English , French , German , Polish , Greek , Italian and Romanian . The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, is a controversial trade agreement negotiated in secret by a handful of countries that seeks to establish international standards for intellectual property right enforcement. As the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea have already signed the agreement, we have turned our attention to the European Union as the last bastion of hope to stop the ascension of this dangerous agreement. In the EU, ACTA is being decided on a national level, and will soon make its way to the European Parliament for a final consent vote.A Czech protester against Acta. 'Because it was a trade agreement, negotiations took place behind closed doors.' Photograph: Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images Acta is the latest copyright enforcement scheme to cause alarm among digital activists. Given its reach, this is understandable.
Act on Acta now if you care about democracy and free speech | David Meyer | Comment is free
Poland freezes anti-piracy pact ratification (AFP) – Feb 3, 2012 WARSAW — Poland's prime minister said Friday that Warsaw would put on ice plans to ratify a controversial international online anti-piracy accord after massive off-and-online protests in his country.